Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also serves as the interior minister and leads the Bhumjaithai Party, has announced an inquiry into leaked Line chat messages. These messages purportedly show Narucha Kosacivilize, the director-general of the Department of Provincial Administration (DoPA), instructing Roongruang Thimabut, the deputy governor of Phuket, to ‘help the blue party’ during the recent election campaign.
In response to the allegations, Mr. Anutin stated he had reviewed reports regarding the conversations between Mr. Narucha and Mr. Roongruang. The deputy governor has asserted that he was unjustly transferred after declining to engage in political activities.
Mr. Anutin confirmed that if any misconduct is identified, an inquiry committee will be formed to investigate the situation thoroughly. When questioned about potential internal discord within the Interior Ministry, he dismissed the notion.
On Friday, Mr. Narucha denied both sending the alleged messages and having any awareness of them. He claimed that his Line account was accessible publicly and linked to several devices, suggesting that unauthorized use could have occurred. He firmly rejected the allegations of benefiting any political faction, insisting that the accusations aimed to undermine him following the DoPA’s initiation of anti-corruption investigations involving Phuket officials.
Additionally, Mr. Narucha refuted claims that five local administrative officials were transferred for resisting political directives, stating that four district chiefs were temporarily reassigned with their knowledge while only the Phuket deputy governor publicly objected.
According to the leaked messages, one allegedly from Mr. Narucha read ‘help the blue party’ during the election period. The DoPA reiterated its commitment to political neutrality and compliance with election laws, arguing that many aspects of the leaked communications remain unverified or distorted, including participant identities and conversation timing.
The department suggested that the timing of these allegations, surfacing after the election while corruption investigations were ongoing, indicates a politically motivated agenda.
In a related development, lawyer Pattarapong Supaksorn has submitted the leaked chats to the Constitutional Court, advocating for the annulment of the election based on the evidence of political interference. He also raised concerns regarding barcode-marked ballots, claiming they could jeopardize voting secrecy and allow for vote tracing by political operatives. He argued that the combination of ballot management, provincial oversight, and the alleged chat instructions indicated a coordinated effort to manipulate outcomes favoring the ‘blue party’.
Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, the deputy leader of the People’s Party, has called for a forensic analysis of the chat records.
Source: inkl
